Paul Fowler of Charlotte always thought that when he won big playing the lottery it would have something to do with the numbers in his birthday. And that win came Friday on his 72nd birthday with a $391,096 Cash 5 jackpot.

“When I was young, my parents told me that because of my birthday that any time 7 and 7 came up, that would be my lucky time,” said Fowler, a retired bus driver, on Monday.

The date for Friday’s Cash 5 drawing was 7/7/17 so Flower felt particularly lucky with a drawing on his birthday. Afterward, he checked the winning numbers online and saw that his parent’s prediction had come true in a big way.

With two tickets with the same numbers he had played for years, he ended up holding both winning tickets in the drawing. Each of the tickets, purchased at the Harris Teeter on West Mallard Creek Church Road, was worth $195,548.

Fowler said he woke his wife up at 1 a.m. on Saturday to tell her the news. “I just started crying,” he said. “I was happy. Just happy.”

Fowler, who retired to Charlotte 10 years ago after living in New York City, said he would use the money to pay bills and take “a nice vacation.” After state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $271,822.

Ticket sales from games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than half a billion dollars a year for the state. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in Mecklenburg County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.